Rapid production of biodiesel in a microchannel reactor at room temperature by enhancement of mixing behaviour in methanol phase using volume of fluid model Afiq Mohd Laziz a , KuZilati KuShaari a,⇑ , Babar Azeem b , Suzana Yusup c , Jitkai Chin d , Jens Denecke e a Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia b CO 2 Research Centre (CO2RES), Institute of Contaminant Management, Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia c Centre of Biofuel & Biochemical Research (CBBR), Institute of Self-Sustainable Building, Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia d School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, HD3 3JL Huddersfield, United Kingdom e Institute of Refrigeration, Air-Conditioning, and Environmental Engineering, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, 76133 Karlsruhe, Germany highlights  Biodiesel is synthesized at room temperature using microchannel reactor.  High oil conversion of 98.6% is achieved in a fast reaction span of 40 s.  Kinetics is controlled by reaction due to enhanced mass transfer.  3D simulation shows torus structure of recirculation profile inside methanol slug.  Passive mixing enhances mass transfer of multiphase reaction in microchannel. graphical abstract X Z Y X Z Y 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 10 [mm s-1] Relative velocity EXPERIMENT SIMULATION article info Article history: Received 20 September 2019 Received in revised form 23 December 2019 Accepted 1 February 2020 Available online 3 February 2020 Keywords: Biofuel Transesterification process CFD analysis Liquid-liquid mass transfer Kinetics abstract The demand for biodiesel to reduce consumption of fossil fuels has motivated engineers to design a rapid and safe production process. However, the slow mass transfer of multiphase transesterification reaction hinders the overall reaction time. A continuous process using a microchannel reactor was proven to achieve complete reaction time in 40 s with high oil conversion of 98.6% due to the enhancement of mix- ing inside the methanol slug phase. The reaction was successfully performed at ambient room environ- ment, without heating element in the reactor that reduces the design complexity and makes the operation energy efficient and safer. The enhancement of reaction was investigated based on the hydro- dynamic factors such as interfacial area and mixing. Three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation shows a torus-shaped recirculation structure inside methanol slug that enhances mix- ing. Microchannel reactor has been proven to enhance the mixing and capable in having faster, highly efficient, and safer process. Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2020.115532 0009-2509/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: afiq_laziz@hotmail.com (A. Mohd Laziz), kuzilati_kushaari@utp.edu.my (K. KuShaari), engrbabara@gmail.com (B. Azeem), drsuzana_yusuf@utp.edu.my (S. Yusup), j.chin@hud.ac.uk (J. Chin), jens.denecke@hs-karlsruhe.de (J. Denecke). Chemical Engineering Science 219 (2020) 115532 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Chemical Engineering Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ces